Hey guys-
Planning my annual birthday ski trip Dec 10-15. I always book this kind of last minute to see where the snow is piling up. Given all the dumping that's been happening and early openings, I'm thinking about pulling the trigger. I frequently find myself in Banff that week, and was kind of planning on that again, but with all the snow in Utah I'm strongly considering that as well. I'm an Ikon pass holder and already have trips to Red/Whitewater, Jackson, Big Sky and Steamboat booked for later in the season. My main question is how much of a shit show is Cottonwoods traffic/parking on weekdays. My last trip there was Jan 2020. Skiing was glorious with 81" during the 8 days I skied, but the traffic was an absolute nightmare. I was staying in Cottonwood Heights and there were days it took 2 hrs to get to Alta and Snowbird leaving at like 6 or 6:30 (without road closures!). I understand that the epic snowfall contributed. I also haven't kept up with the parking situation. Last time I was there, only Solitude was charging for parking. Any news on that front?
Anyway, my gut is kind go telling me to go to Banff because it's got good early snow, low/no crowds on the weekdays, and an easy driving/parking/flying situation. However, I do love all of the Cottonwoods resorts, I haven't been in a while, and my ski buddy has never been there. I guess I'd also consider Tahoe or Mammoth, but I don't have as good a sense of the snow out there.
In any case, I'm super pumped to have good early snow anywhere! Any insight/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!
Planning my annual birthday ski trip Dec 10-15. I always book this kind of last minute to see where the snow is piling up. Given all the dumping that's been happening and early openings, I'm thinking about pulling the trigger. I frequently find myself in Banff that week, and was kind of planning on that again, but with all the snow in Utah I'm strongly considering that as well. I'm an Ikon pass holder and already have trips to Red/Whitewater, Jackson, Big Sky and Steamboat booked for later in the season. My main question is how much of a shit show is Cottonwoods traffic/parking on weekdays. My last trip there was Jan 2020. Skiing was glorious with 81" during the 8 days I skied, but the traffic was an absolute nightmare. I was staying in Cottonwood Heights and there were days it took 2 hrs to get to Alta and Snowbird leaving at like 6 or 6:30 (without road closures!). I understand that the epic snowfall contributed. I also haven't kept up with the parking situation. Last time I was there, only Solitude was charging for parking. Any news on that front?
Anyway, my gut is kind go telling me to go to Banff because it's got good early snow, low/no crowds on the weekdays, and an easy driving/parking/flying situation. However, I do love all of the Cottonwoods resorts, I haven't been in a while, and my ski buddy has never been there. I guess I'd also consider Tahoe or Mammoth, but I don't have as good a sense of the snow out there.
In any case, I'm super pumped to have good early snow anywhere! Any insight/recommendations would be greatly appreciated. Cheers!